On Pursuing a Trade, Localism and Retirement

So, I'm back on Facebook. I started during Lent, while everyone else was taking a break from social media :) Three big reasons: the SCBWI message board has not been restored (I don't know if they'll ever will), our barbershop practices are recorded and we can return to our private FB page to review specific elements like interpretation, choreography, etc., and publishers expect you to be active on social media.  

One benefit has been reconnecting with family and friends far away, but the best part has been discovering things in my own community. I was feeling sad about not having my flag up for Fourth of July--I couldn't reach the bracket with all the cucumbers growing on our porch (and Michael was out of town)--but this nice young man, Derek Schultz, owner of Schultz Construction, offered to hang up the American flag for anyone who needed help on the private community page. I called and he came over and did me a huge favor by moving the bracket where I could reach it. It was great getting to know him--he's been in the roofing business since his teens working with his father, and now has his own company. It's so refreshing to meet young people who love their country, their family, and their work. I gave him some cucumbers; it reminded me of the old ways, where people exchanged goods and services. This reminded me how wonderful it can be for people to pursue a trade. 

Emma Slaven, a reporter for Daniel Island News, asked people about early retirement. I replied tongue-in-cheek to her query with: stay-at-home moms never retire. And was delighted to have a chance to answer her thoughtful questions. So fun to be featured in the local newspaper: Why more people are retiring early, and loving it | The Daniel Island News. 

I actually think that retirement is a strange notion; the happiest people I know are engaged in meaningful work, whether or not they are paid for it. Mothering and homemaking the most satisfying of all the work I've done, yet we never hear about it on "Career Day" in schools. I wish the focus would be on vocation instead. I really enjoyed this essay: Reflecting on C.S. Lewis’s Letter to a Housewife. 

All this brought back wonderful memories from last December, when we went to Liturgy of the Land Conference. We met many young families who left the corporate workforce to have a more family-centered economy, whether it's dairy farming, beekeeping, blacksmithing. There is no expectation of retiring because the work never ends, but in many cases, some of the grown children take over the farm or business, or pursue a different line of work more suited to their interests. Durable Trades by Rory Groves is a great resource for teenagers and it really makes one appreciate our society at the local level. There's a Catholic school in Steubenville that focuses on trade: College of St. Joseph the Worker 

I never shared my conference notes because we were busy with wedding preparations and family in town, but much of what I learned can be found in these books. Liturgy of the Land by Jason Craig and Tommy Van Horn has given us much food for thought about the why and how of the Catholic homestead. The Independent Farmstead by Shawn and Beth Dougherty relates how they were able to develop a farm that's self-sustaining. Even as suburban gardeners, we are able to incorporate some of the principles of these books into our lives. And I continue to have dreams about Bodach Books and Brews. 

Pondering with Mary this Holy Saturday

Saturday is traditionally devoted to honoring our Lady. And I learned that it's because she alone kept the faith when all seemed lost--God is dead. Even though our Lord had prepared His Apostles and told them He would rise from the dead, it is such an incredulous thing, they didn't actually believe. There's a beautiful essay on this--perfect for pondering salvation history with our Mother Mary.

Easter Vigil is so powerful--I'm surprised that more people don't attend because you get to experience the darkness until the Paschal candle is lit and from it, the candles of the Altar servers, who share it with us in the pews, until candlelight spreads throughout the church. I love the Exultet and all the readings and psalms and the renewal of our baptismal promises and celebrating those who are received into the Church and who finally get to make their first Holy Communion. Christ Jesus is our Passover Lamb, whose Precious Body and Blood washes us clean of sin and guilt, restores lost innocence, brings us peace and heavenly joy. 

Behold, I make all things new! Rev. 21:5     

Twelve years ago, on our first anniversary of reception into the Church, Dagny and I were given the privilege of stripping the Altar after Maundy Thursday service. The Altar stone is Christ and I felt like one of the soldiers stripping our Lord. He'd been so horribly tortured during the scourging (Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ brought it to life in all its savage reality) that the garments adhered to His torn Flesh and in removing them roughly, some of His Skin came off. O Agony and Dying! O Love to sinners free! Jesus all grace supplying, O turn Thy Face on me...we sing in the Passion Chorale.  Until I read ART+FAITH by Makoto Fujimura, I hadn't considered that the only earthly thing Christ took with Him to the Cross was the aromatic nard that Mary of Bethany had so lovingly poured over Him. I have always loved this story that we read Monday of Holy Week and written a reflection on it a few years ago, but every year, it continues to help me grow in love.

Today is Pope Benedict XVI's 95th birthday! I love this man for his clear teaching. It so happens, that he was born and baptized on Holy Saturday. May God bless him and keep him and shine His Face upon him.   

I decided to try a bit of advertising in the Washington Review of Books, not that Ten Easter Eggs needs any help (it's sold over 100,000 copies) but my self-published titles do. Yes, I know--worldly aspirations. And so I pray: Lord Jesus, strip me of all things that do not belong to You. Make me love You above all things. Amen.

Pictures are from Max in DC; Palm Sunday at home; Dagny in Ave Maria. 

Silence and Prayer

I've gone through two surgeries in the past month and of all things, I miss writing the most. I can't do much of anything right now, except pray. It is my superpower. So please let me know any special intentions and I will pray. Right now, I offer a few thoughts but mostly some pictures of my convalescence, the many blessings. As you can imagine, Michael and the cats are a great comfort, as are many books. I did finish my chapter book, Max and Midnight. It's amazing how long these things take. Stories were polished in July, got art from Dagny in Aug, put it all together in Sept, and worked on cover/back in Oct. I managed to get it done a week after surgery #1 and 5 days before #2 knowing that any writing/typing would be difficult after. So please take a look. 

I was so pleased All Saints was a Sunday but I didn't go to All Souls Mass on Nov. 2nd. Instead, I sang along at home as Mass was livestreamed on youtube. The simple Gregorian chant was so beautiful and matched my ascetic mood. I also got out to vote and praying for the truth to be unveiled. Over and over, I am impressed with the wisdom of our Founding Fathers. God bless America. I find myself singing America the Beautiful a lot. 

There's not been a night that I don't cry. Pain is awful. Sleep is difficult. I have even managed to fall out of the recliner from feeling claustrophobic and trapped. I question whether this is God's will. My feelings can shift from peace to poverty in minutes. But thinking about favorite Scripture verses are a sure path to peace, like Ecclesiastes 3:1 To everything there's a season and a time to every purpose under heaven. I've taken off my sling/brace to type this post and I have to be extra vigilant with the cats' sudden movements. I cannot afford to tear the repaired tendons. I know I need to practice patience and humility. The silence has been good for me, brought tremendous clarity and closeness to our dear Savior. But as you can see, I succumb to the need to write and connect with you all. I should retreat again into the silence because I believe that is what God desires--it is a school of prayer and thanksgiving. Please pray for me and I, thee. Come, Lord Jesus. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 

2 Corinthians 12:9 9And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 

My First Picture Book

This is the first picture book that I ever wrote and sent out. The story itself stands up to scrutiny after nearly two decades but not my cover letter. I can use this as a teaching tool. Let's spot all the ways how one ought not to write a cover: 

Dear ____

The tender friendship between my cat and son from birth through two years is documented in candid photographs.  I am sending a manuscript (180 words) and a rough dummy for a 32-page picture book titled, Kali and Baby Max based upon it. [In another letter I offer to let the illustrator use my pictures as inspiration for art.]

Kali and Baby Max is targeted for the youngest readers (age 1-5).  It shows the joy of having a pet.  Although there are many books on the market with this theme, I have not found a picture book that is as realistic as mine.  And it is the reality of the antics that Kali and Max do together that is so fresh and appealing. [Any more adjectives?]

My professional background is in the sciences (B.Sc. Microbiology; Ph.D. Biochemistry) and I have published in scientific journals.  I write stories and poems for my children and take writing courses and believe that I will succeed in this new venture. [Brimming with confidence! What relevance does a PhD have for a book for with babies and toddlers, I have no idea.]

I am submitting Kali and Baby Max to other publishing houses but I will promptly notify you if I hear from the others.  I appreciate your time and consideration and look forward to your reply. 

Sincerely,

I received lovely rejection letters with compliments for having a cute baby and cat. They all encouraged me to continue writing. I'm so grateful my silly submission was rejected because Midnight and Baby Max is way better! My homemade books (I wrote several) were a favorite with my kids along with books by Eve Bunting, Eric Carle and Leo Lionni. But as the children grew, they went on to read other books. And I went on to writing magazine stories and other books for the school and library market. They were fun to write and taught me so much. I didn't pull this baby out again until I started compiling some short stories for my EZ book, Max and Dagny. And the story holds up. So, after a few tweaks to the text, I published it myself. I learned so much, not just about story, but choosing trim size so as to make it affordable. Color printing is expensive. I don't know how people will find this book in the sea of books but I do hope parents find it and read it to their children, delighting in their delight. I love the flexibility of self-publishing especially for highly self-indulgent projects like these. Please note that my pictures are not even close to being professional. Perhaps I should take my own advice that I wrote to a few editors. Alas, I'm no artist so the photos remain as they are, untouched. 

I know many writers will not look back on their old work, but I'm discovering that many of my early works, though not polished, have tremendous heart and soul. I'm always chasing the next new idea but I think it's good to return to old stories when they bring themselves to the forefront and give them a spit-shine. I've actually sold many old stories, simply because it was the right timing. I saw a call for a certain type of story and voila! 

Let's talk about old stories. What do you do with yours?  

My Short Books for Kids

I have drawers full of short stories and poems and decided that this is the year I will make them available as a collection--only a couple have been previously published in magazines. I'd almost finished finalizing the collection of EZs when the kids returned home for the remainder of the semester due to the pandemic. So I turned into an art director, hiring my daughter to make some original line art for this collection. I love it so much and it was well worth the wait! I thought I'd have all this a month ago but she's been busy with school and it took her some time to get into the groove. You can't rush artists. lol. This is her first published work and I'm so pleased I'm going to hire her again for the chapter book I'm working on too. What a joy it's been to remember our days together when they were little. I thought with so many families homeschooling and hunkered down at home, this would promote the simple joys of childhood and encourage families to create art of their own.

Max and Dagny is a collection of 20 easy-to-read stories, poems, and fun facts for beginning readers. It's available as a paperback (recommended) or e-book with darling little illustrations from my daughter. Free preview here. 

So the Emory contest. We didn't win. But I loved the winning story, its simplicity and focus on helping others. Well written and illustrated. I also liked two of the honor books. How I wish we'd received an honorable mention too, but I know how subjective this business is. I'm so pleased to be able to publish it myself. However, I was not allowed to publish this on Amazon because "Due to the rapidly changing nature of information around the COVID-19 virus, we are referring customers to official sources for health information about the virus. As a result we are not offering your book for sale.  Amazon reserves the right to determine what content we offer according to our content guidelines." I get it. There's always junk science. But our book is a very basic treatment of virology and immunology for young kids. I have appealed but we'll see. It struck me how easy it is for large companies to control what's available. Already this happens in the media. So I'm grateful that I could upload our book to Draft2Digital. It's a distribution service and all my self-published books are on there because it's a lot easier than making separate account for all the different ebook outlets. And they are poised to provide printing services soon. So yay!    

Why in the World? is a nonfiction book about the Coronavirus pandemic for children aged 6-12. It covers basic virology and immunology, brilliantly illustrated by Kris Manning. It's only available as an ebook at this time. 

Despite the setbacks, I'm loving all the creative aspects of self-publishing. The freedom is phenomenal and some day I want to be able to publish the books I love that I've read in manuscript form. Maybe one of my kids can learn accounting and all that business stuff :) I already have an artist on board! I have still much to learn, especially when it comes to formatting ebooks with art, but I'm getting there. And we won't talk about marketing :) I love designing and making covers, formatting the paperback so that the interior is easy to read and pleasing to the eye. It's great learning new things even though I see myself hiring a lot of this out because there are still so many stories I want to tell and not enough time to write them all. I'm so thankful to God for this beautiful writing life.

BOUND Cover Reveal

This is a long time coming but I am insanely happy to see this gorgeous cover of BOUND designed by Derrick Alderman. It's finally available to anybody who wants to read it and so close to our Independence Day!!! So much to celebrate, including the right to publish stories. July 4th plays a major role in my book so the timing is perfect.

Here's the description: Seventeen-year-old Rebecca Joshi, an adopted girl from India, burn survivor, and primary caretaker of her intellectually disabled sister, Joy, has one dream—to be a physician. Her traditional Indian father relies upon Rebecca to care for Joy while he buries himself in work to drown his grief over his wife’s death. Leaving home is the only way Rebecca can envision reaching her goal. She helps Joy develop greater independence, and is devastated when Joy becomes pregnant. Rebecca tussles—with her father and with herself—over who is responsible for Joy and her baby. When Rebecca discovers the truth of what happened the day she was burned, she struggles to hold onto her dream while wrestling with questions of life, love, and responsibility.

Set in the beautiful Palouse, the little town of Pullman, WA, home of Washington State University, where I spent 14 years of my life as a high school and college student. When people ask me why I stayed so long, I always say, I never mastered English 101 :) 

Click on this link for a free preview.


I just love this country, how many opportunities we have, how free we are to live and pray as we wish. I can't get over what a privilege it is to be an American (I got my citizenship at 19). Here are some pretty fireworks from our celebration last night. I think even the gators of Smythe Park were in awe. God bless America!

 

Bodach Books

This is my new publishing venture--Bodach Books--books to elevate, enlighten, and entertain. I just love this logo that Derrick Alderman designed for me. I'd wanted two Bs back to back and a cross. My little sketch looked like a beetle but Derrick's design is more than I could ever have dreamed about. It denotes and connotes so many things, besides just the name. The suggestion of the cross is magnificent. It even matches the cross I wear that belonged to Michael's paternal grandmother, Tilly. The there's the V for my Christian name, which means Victory (through Jesus Christ our Lord). The Bs also remind me of a butterfly and transformation.
  

The first book to be published will be BOUND, a YA contemporary, cover and details to follow soon. Sooooo exciting! BB will be a great avenue for my YA and adult books, and also niche books. I tell you, there's not been a better time to be a writer than now because there are so many avenues for publication.   

I've been praying about self-publishing for over a year now. BOUND has been submission-ready for the past five years. I kid you not. I tried getting an agent for a couple of years but even the very complimentary agents didn't want to take it on. One agent was especially helpful; he planted the seed to self-publish. He felt the industry had changed and less open to a counter-cultural book like mine. Surely there would be one publisher, I thought, who'd like to invest in my book. I started sending it out to publishers. Again, a few great rejections--what an oxymoron--but I kept trying off and on. Mostly off, though. I was busy writing other books (I will have three new picture books out in 2019!!!) I told myself last year that I will try again in earnest to find a publisher for BOUND, but when I was down to micro-presses, I thought I might as well take all the risk and publish it myself. And now I wish I'd done this five years ago!!!

I'm learning a lot about self-publishing and hope to share good resources with you. Two of the most helpful have been Joanna Penn's Successful Self Publishing and David Gaughran's Let's Get Digital. A new edition is available but this first edition on my kindle was comprehensive. I especially enjoyed many of the success stories of midlist authors. It gives me great hope for my venture as well. Of course, there's so much I don't know and I don't know what I don't know, so please do educate me. Thank you!